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Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

Letter from the editor: A guide to our paper’s new look

Reader input has led to many of The Sun’s new design and content changes

Vancouver Sun Editor-in-Chief Harold Munro.

Photograph by: Jason Payne
, VANCOUVER SUN

The Vancouver Sun has never been read by so many people in so many ways — in the paper, and online.

On Saturday, we are introducing content and design changes to The Vancouver Sun newspaper. These changes reflect the many insights and interests brought forward by you, our readers, through direct messages sent to me and also drawn from our recent readership surveys.

My thanks to all those who responded to my call for reader input. The tremendous amount of feedback from so many will certainly help us focus on the stories and issues that are most important to you.

We are shining a brighter light on our columnists because you told us that you put great value on local opinion and commentary from across the political spectrum. So you will see their personal logos prominently displayed throughout the paper, helping you navigate through the sections to easily find your favourites. Our respected provincial affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer will now be anchored five days a week on the opinion pages of the A section, and on page C2 of the Weekend Review section on Saturdays.

A Science and Technology page has also been added to Weekend Review (see page C3 Saturday) in response to your request for more news about the workings of the world around us. This is the place where you will find regular contributions from our technology reporter Gillian Shaw. She will have news on the latest digital innovations, and also tell you about the latest “tech toys.”

Our hugely popular and irreverent hockey bloggers Harrison Mooney and Daniel Wagner, who you know online as Pass it to Bulis, will appear on the Sports pages every Wednesday with special content for print readers. Our established sports columnists Cam Cole and Iain MacIntyre will be found adjacent to this, offering up their usual incisive commentary and exclusive insights on Canucks as well as virtually every important sports news event.

Our entertaining social commentator Malcolm Parry now will appear with a full page of Town Talk each Saturday and, also in the A section, you’ll see a brighter look to John Mackie’s collector-friendly feature This Day in History.

In the revamped Canada/World section, please watch for a daily “In Focus” page, a feature that will explore various issues in depth. We hope that, in this way, you will be transported to every corner of the globe as we explain the world through an ongoing series of compelling reads.

But this is just the beginning.

We intend to deliver more special features and more unique local content — like the three-part series on civility that begins today with an exclusive poll and will continue, next week, to explore how the data translates into real life in Vancouver.

In the coming months, expect more changes as we sharpen our focus in additional sections of the newspaper. The Monday Business section will soon make way for an expanded Sports section with more of an emphasis on analyzing the weekend’s events and exploring what’s coming up in the week ahead.

Business coverage will ramp up the rest of the week, featuring local columns by Barbara Yaffe, Don Cayo and others. The section will be more diverse and concentrate on local business trends and personalities.

And, as always, your Vancouver Sun will also be available to you wherever you are and whenever you go, with additional features online at vancouversun.com, on mobile and your tablet.

The true measure of our success will be whether you spend more or less time with The Sun. I invite you to continue sharing your thoughts about the newspaper as we roll out these changes. I will be listening.

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